India

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that despite global crises, India has fared well on energy, food and fuel fronts.

Addressing the 25th Energy Techonology Meet in Mumbai, he said that despite the unique challenges posed by the current global setting, India is wedded to the concept of net zero and is committed to making a transition from the world of hydrocarbons to a world where green and sustainable energy will be determining our energy needs.

Puri further said that the country's per capita energy consumption is one-third of global average now and will surpass it in the years to come.

"India is on a path to become a $10 trillion economy in 2030 and third largest economy in the world by 2047 and therefore, there is a growing need to change the energy mix," the minister added.

He reiterated the Government's resolve to not let anything undermine commitments towards green transition.

"By May 2022, India had already attained 10 per cent biofuel blending and is now on course to reach the 20 per cent mark in a year or two," Puri said later during a media interaction.

--IANS
ans/kvd

Mumbai, Sep 15 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided several locations in Mumbai and Gujarat's Kutch in connection with an alleged fraud of Rs 428.50 crore in the Canara Bank, an official said on Thursday.

Following a complaint lodged by Canara Bank, the CBI registered a case against company, PSL Ltd and its director Ashok Yoginder Punj, Alok Yoginder Punj, Rajender Kumar Bahri, Chitranjan Kumar Jagdishchadra Goel, and other known and unknown persons including public servants.

As per the Canara Bank's complaint, between 2009-2016, the accused entered into a conspiracy to cheat the bank through sanction of various credit facilities and misrepresented books of accounts.

They are charged with alleged misutilisation of the funds of the bank and diverting the receivable from its debtors, diverting the loans for projects to other purposes, thus, causing an alleged loss of Rs 428.50 crore to Canara Bank.

The CBI sleuths raided seven locations in Mumbai and Gujarat at the premises of the accused resulting in the recovery of incriminating documents and other articles.

--IANS
qn/vd

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 15 (IANS) AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday categorically said the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra is being done not for opposition unity, but to strengthen the Congress party.

"This yatra is being undertaken for strengthening the Congress party at all levels and this is not done for opposition unity. All parties at one point or the other has been trying to weaken the Congress. Only if the Congress is strengthened, can the opposition gather strength," said Ramesh.

Rahul Gandhi is leading the yatra that began from Kanyakumari on September 7 and will travel on a straight route and will cover over 3,750 kms through 12 states and reach its destination at Kashmir in 150 days.

For the yatra, Thursday is a rest day and it will resume from Kollam on Friday morning.

Ramesh took on the CPI-M in Kerala and said it's the A team of the BJP and barring the Congress party, including the Left all have joined hands with the BJP at one point or the other.

"Nationally, the CPI-M wants to support the Congress but in Kerala it's in a tie up with the BJP and is being done to weaken the Congress. If they want to support us, they can do, but in Kerala they won't. Just see their top leaders (Modi and Vijayan) they are the same in style and operations as they do not listen to anyone. The legendary Communist EMS Namboodiripad once said that to defeat the Congress, they will join hands with even the 'devil' and they did it in 1989," said Ramesh.

In reply to a question on Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ramesh said those who are leaving the Congress party are those who have got everything from the party.

"Then, there is another group who are vulnerable and just see the former Assam chief minister after he left the party, there has been no single probe done. In Goa, the BJP has been trying its best for a while and they did it now to deflect the growing acceptance that this yatra has evoked. The eight MLAs which left the Congress in Goa were corrupt people and now when they are put into the BJP washing machine, they will now come out like my kurta which is spotless white," said Ramesh.

The yatra now resumes from Kollam on Friday morning and will move on to Alappuzha and will be in Kerala for another two weeks and by then it would have covered 453 kms spread over 43 assembly and 12 Lok Sabha constituencies in 19 days.

Ramesh clarified that the yatra will go through Uttar Pradesh for 5 days and not two as is being reported in the media.

"Even Superman (56 inch chested person without naming Modi) would not have been able to reach Gujarat in 90 days. We decided the present route taking into account security and geographical reasons and moreover any other route taken would not turn out to be padyatra, as some other modes of transport would have to be taken. Moreover along with his yatra, there are numerous yatras being undertaken by the Congress party in states where the Bharat Joda Yatra is not passing through," added Ramesh.

--IANS
sg/uk

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the medical students, who returned from Ukraine, cannot be accommodated in the Indian universities in the absence of any provision under the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019, and if any such relaxation is given, then it will seriously hamper the standards of medical education in the country.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in an affidavit, said: "The prayer seeking transfer of these returnee students to medical colleges in India would not only be dehors the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956, and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, as well as the regulations made thereunder, but would also seriously hamper the standards of medical education in the country."

"It is humbly submitted that in so far as such students are concerned, there are no such provisions either under the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 or the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the regulations to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes/colleges to Indian medical colleges. Till now, no permission has been given by the NMC to trade or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute/university," it said.

The affidavit added that the aggrieved petitioners had gone to foreign countries for two reasons -- firstly, due to poor merit in the NEET Exam, secondly, affordability of medical education in such foreign countries.

"It is humbly submitted that in case these students with (a) poor merit are allowed admission in premier medical colleges in India by default, there may be several litigations from those desirous candidates who could not get seats in these colleges and have taken admission in either lesser-known colleges or have been deprived of a seat in medical colleges.

"Further, in case of affordability, if these candidates are allocated private medical colleges in India, they once again may not be able to afford the fees structure of the concerned institution," it said.

The affidavit added that the Centre in consultation with the NMC, the apex medical education regulatory body in the country, has taken proactive measures to assist returnee students from Ukraine, while balancing the need to maintain the requisite standard of medical education in the country.

The Centre said the allegation of refusal of Ukrainian universities to entertain the applications of students for academic mobility in their first semester of academic year 2022-23 is concerned, it is submitted that the same is completely vague, devoid of any details of the applicant students or the universities concerned.

"The relied upon communication in fact shows that the students who have taken admission in their first semester (2022-23) are not being permitted academic mobility in the first semester by the Ukrainian Institutions. It is humbly submitted that the provision of academic mobility programme was permitted only for those students who are already undergoing medical education in medical universities of Ukraine and are unable-to finish such education because of disruption caused by the undergoing war," said the affidavit.

The Centre said the public notice issued by NMC on September 6 is a no-objection for academic mobility between foreign universities for students who could not complete studies due to the war.

"In the Public Notice dated 06.09.22, the phrase 'global mobility' cannot be interpreted to mean accommodation of these students in Indian colleges/universities, as the extant regulations in India do not permit migration of students from foreign universities to India. The aforesaid Public Notice cannot be used as a back door entry in Indian colleges/universities offering UG courses," said the affidavit.

The Centre's response came on a batch of petitions filed by Indian students who have been evacuated from Ukraine and seeking permission to continue medical study in India. One of the petitions, filed through advocate Ashwarya Sinha, said the education of 14,000 students has come to a halt and they are going through immense mental hardship.

The case is likely to come up for hearing on Friday.

--IANS
ss/vd

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) Communications, Electronics, IT and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has advised the telecom department to send a new consultation paper to TRAI for significantly increasing the quality-of-service parameters, making them three to four times of what it is today.

Addressing an event here on Wednesday, Vaishnaw said the telecom sector will witness more reforms in the coming years but at the same time, he called upon the industry to do its bit and reciprocate by significantly improving quality of service.

The minister further said that the journey of 5G is going to be very exciting and noted that many countries took multiple years to reach 40 per cent to 50 per cent coverage, the Ministry of Communication said in a statement.

"But we are targeting a very aggressive timeline and the Government has given a target of 80 per cent coverage in a short time frame which should be achieved as per the deadline," he added.

--IANS
ans/svn/

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) The Congress Election Authority Chairman Madhusudan Mistry on Thursday clarified that there was no flaw in the electoral system, and from September 20, two days ahead of the notifications for the party president's election, the delegate list will be made available to the candidates at the party office.

The clarification came after five of its MPs wrote to make the delegate list public.

The five MPs had written to Mistry expressing concern about the 'transparency and fairness of the party chief's election, and had sought that the list of PCC delegates that make up the electoral college be provided to all electors and potential candidates'.

In reply to these MPs, Mistry said that any delegate, who has the QR-based card, was an eligible voter and each candidate can get the proposer amongst the delegates and require 10 proposers.

Mistry said in reply, "For the first time, we are issuing QR-code based identity cards to all the delegates across the 28 states and nine Union Territories that have Congress committees. Those who want to file a nomination should check if they have a delegate identity card available with them. Only people with valid identity cards will be allowed to sign the nomination papers for the position of Congress President."

Appreciating the concern for free, fair and transparent election, Mistry said that the first avenue open for any delegate to file a nomination for the Congress President's post is -- they can look for the names of the 10 supporters (delegates) in their state at the Pradesh Congress Committee office.

"The name and the serial number are available in the state list. The nomination signed by 10 supporters (delegates) will be sufficient for validity of the nomination," Mistry said.

After the election of the president, the Congress delegates will vote for the CWC members, which are 12 in numbers while 11 are nominated by the Congress President. Mistry clarified that there was consensus in election of the PCC delegates except in Andaman where election was conducted by the CEA, the new President will have authority to nominate new state presidents wherever resolutions are moved to authorise the incoming president.

--IANS
miz/dpb

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) Senior advocate Dushyant Dave on Thursday told a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court that it should not have heard the batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court on hijab, instead the case should have been referred to a larger bench.

Dave, representing some of the petitioners', submitted before a bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia that they should have not heard the case, instead referred the case to a larger bench.

Dave, who apparently appeared annoyed with the limited time allocated to him to argue the case, said, "please don't restrain us in time for arguing..." He added that the matter affects millions of people and he wants to show the Constituent Assembly debates and the warning of Sardar Patel. Dave said he would not be able to finish his arguments today and this case is a serious matter. The bench agreed with Dave and he is expected to begin his arguments in the afternoon session, and permitted other lawyers to argue the matter in the morning session.

Advocate Shoeb Alam, representing some of the petitioners, submitted before the bench that the impact of the Karnataka government order is - "I will give you education, you give me your right to privacy". He added that the state cannot ask the person to surrender the right to privacy. Alam said on one hand, I have my right to education, a secular education, and on the other hand, I have my right to privacy, culture, etc., under Article 21. He emphasized that the state has an affirmative obligation and duty to facilitate education, and shared some statistics of Muslim girls in schools.

Senior advocate A.M. Dar, representing some petitioners, submitted that he will enlighten the court on the Quran. The bench told him that other lawyers, appearing for the petitioners, had submitted that courts are not equipped to interpret the Quran. Justice Gupta told Dar, "please don't take us through all verses of Quran".

The top court will continue to hear arguments in the afternoon session on the petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court's judgement of March 15 upholding ban on hijab in the pre-university colleges.

--IANS
ss/dpb

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), Sep 15 (IANS) The Allahabad High Court has said that every prisoner has a fundamental right to file the bail application without delay.

The court granted bail to a person who had been languishing in jail and could not approach the court as he was financially weak and abandoned by his family after his imprisonment.

Making these observations, Justice Ajay Bhanot granted bail to one Anil Gaur a.k.a. Sonu, against whom murder case had been registered at police station Neodiya of Jaunpur district and was in jail since December 6, 2017.

According to counsel for the applicant, the applicant was not named in the FIR. There was no direct evidence against the applicant and he had no motive to commit the murder.

At best, it is a case of circumstantial evidence, he contended.

"The failure of justice in the said cases was occasioned by poverty, social exclusion, legal illiteracy, impersonal administration and denial of legal aid. Exactions of poverty are more severe than punishments in law. For them the glorious dawn of the 75th year of Independence has lost the sheen of freedom's ideals and the substance of the republic's promise," observed the court while granting bail to the applicant.

"Injustice is the birthmark of a slave nation. Justice is the birth right of a free people and our constitution says they shall have it," the court remarked.

The court also took note of the fact that there are several cases where bail applications were filed after inordinate delays because the prisoners did not have access to legal aid.

Taking a note of it, the court further observed, "The courts, too, have a duty to ensure that prisoners appearing in criminal proceedings have access to legal aid. Courts cannot remain mute spectators when legal aid is denied to prisoners in legal proceedings before them."

As per the applicant, he did not have access to legal aid to file his bail applications in a timely manner before the trial court as well as high court.

The counsel for the applicant submitted that the right of the applicant to legal aid is a fundamental right and is also a statutory right vested in him by the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

In its decision dated September 12, the high court found that the applicant was in jail since December 6, 2017. He was able to file a bail application before the trial court in 2019, even after a delay of more than one year.

He could approach the high court for bail only in 2022 -- three years after the trial court refused him the bail.

--IANS
amita/dpb

Varanasi, Sep 15 (IANS) The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM), the Gyanvapi mosque management committee, said that they would file revision petition before the Allahabad high court.

Rekha Pathak, a woman plaintiff in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case, has already filed a caveat in the court to ensure that her side would be heard before any relief is given to AIM, when it files a revision petition against rejection of its application in the matter by the Varanasi district judge on Monday.

AIM joint secretary S M Yasin said that the timing to file a revision petition in the court by the panel of lawyers would be decided after going through the Monday's order in detail.

Committee lawyer Merajuddin Siddiqui said that the AIM would challenge the court order that said that the suit is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, The Waqf Act, 1995 and the UP Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983.

--IANS
amita/ksk/

Gurugram, Sep 15 (IANS) The Gurugram police have arrested a 19-year-old college student for allegedly blackmailing and sexually assaulting a minor girl, a class 11 student of a private school in the city, the police said.

The complainant and father of the 16-year-old girl told the police that the girl knew the accused as they had studied in the same school.

The girl's father said that his daughter had become friends with the accused.

"They used to talk often and after passing out of class 12, the accused cleared school in 2021 and joined a college in Delhi. The accused started stalking my daughter too."

The father alleged that during a mobile chat the accused got a nude photo of his daughter on WhatsApp. After which he (accused) started blackmailing her and pressuring her to meet him.

"During a meeting, the suspect sexually and physically assaulted her and when she resisted, he threatened to kill her," the girl's father said in his police complaint.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered against the accused under Sections 323 (causing hurt), 354-D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act at the women police station, West.

"We have arrested the culprit. Further probe is underway," said a police officer.

--IANS
str/khz/